Abbott Tech blanks Wilcox to end season

Published 11:22 pm, Wednesday, November 23, 2011

MERIDEN -- The season that almost wasn't ended in the victory formation. For Abbott Tech football, this was a defining moment.

The Wolverines capped the best season in their four-year history with a 21-0 rout of Thanksgiving rival Wilcox Tech at Falcon Field in Meriden Wednesday night -- the program's first-ever shutout.

Senior Jake D'Amico rushed for 221 yards on 16 carries and bookended the beatdown with a pair of long touchdown runs. Bolstered all year by a veteran offensive line and a slew of talented runners, the Wolverines set a team goal of 2,000 yards rushing in the preseason.

They needed 271 yards to reach their goal. They got 455.

"Being a first-year program a couple years back, it's nice to be able to send these (seniors), the ones that started here as freshmen, out with a `W,'" said Wolverines coach Chris Mascolo. "It's huge. We really played this up as our championship game."

The Wolverines' first of three first half pass attempts halted their opening drive when an underthrown pass from Adam Kirwan-Welsh off a reverse was picked inside the Wilcox Tech 10-yard-line by Colin Jandreau and returned to midfield.

The Wolverines got the ball two plays later on the first of two bobbled pitches by Wilcox Tech in the first half. Neither team mustered a point in the opening quarter.

After absorbing a shot in the backfield on the first play of the second quarter, D'Amico took off for a 46-yard scamper on the ensuing play to put the Wolverines on top 7-0. His 60-yard burst late in the fourth set up his second score, an eight-yard plunge with 3:31 remaining.

"I want the ball on the next play and I'm going to take it to the end zone, I don't care what happens," D'Amico said of the sequence that brought him his first touchdown. "All I care about is my team. I don't want to let them down."

The Abbott Tech defense never let up, either, stuffing Wilcox Tech repeatedly on fourth down plays deep in Wolverine territory. D'Amico credited his offensive line with creating the holes that allowed the Wolverines to exploit the Wilcox Tech defense.

"It's the first time we've ever won the last game of the year, so it feels great," said senior O-lineman Brandon Bizier. "And to beat Wilcox, we've been trying to beat them for four years now."